


Distress Signal

by DownToTheSea



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 08:36:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16446467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DownToTheSea/pseuds/DownToTheSea
Summary: Helen's having a quiet morning when a slightly longer SOS comes in on the autotype.





	Distress Signal

**Author's Note:**

> For Teslen Week day four - "magnetism"

All things considered, Helen was having a very peaceful morning. There had been a minor squabble between a couple of baby rocs, but Bigfoot had resolved it almost immediately. Her tea was hot, her paperwork stack smaller than usual, and Helen was prepared to settle in comfortably when she heard an all-too-familiar clacking noise.

Her heart sinking, she pulled open one of her desk drawers and lifted out the autotype. Sure enough, it had been activated, and was typing a message out briskly.

COULD USE SOME HELP, it said. IN LESS THAN TWO HOURS. P. S. WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?

Helen sighed, her peaceful morning shattering into oblivion. (She didn’t especially mind, not that she would tell Nikola.)

Ever since Colombia she had taken to keeping the autotype in her office, just in case Nikola ever used it to call for assistance again. Him needing to call for assistance seemed inevitable, given his propensity for attracting trouble. Apparently, her instinct had been correct.

She got up, calling down to Henry’s lab. Nikola must have been much closer than before, since he was clearly managing more than a couple of letters this time, but she still had little to no idea where he was and if she could even get there in two hours.

“Henry,” she said when he picked up. “I need you to track a signal as quickly as you can.”

 

It turned out that Nikola was even closer than she’d thought – in their own city, as a matter of fact. Somehow, it didn’t surprise Helen that his magnetic signal led them right to a dusty old warehouse.

There were a couple of “goons,” as Henry called them, between her and Nikola, but a few stunner blasts took care of them efficiently. She was just over the hour and a half mark by the time she found him locked in a small and nearly empty room.

His eyes were closed in concentration.

“Nikola,” Helen said, “I hope you haven’t been wasting your time sending out flirtatious messages for the last hour and a half.”

He opened his eyes, unmistakable relief crossing his face before he assumed his usual smug expression. “Flirting with you is never a waste of time.”

“Unless I’m not around to see it,” she pointed out, holstering her stunner and pulling out a knife, sawing through the ropes binding his wrists and ankles. “Alright, what did you do this time?”

“I’m insulted, Helen. I didn’t do anything. There I was – innocently minding my own business – ”

Helen snorted.

“It’s true,” Nikola insisted. “Well, sure, maybe I was looking to deal with some people who said they had a lead on an undiscovered vampire city, but can you blame me? Come on, Helen, you know what kind of a find that would be.”

“There you were, minding your own business,” Helen reminded him, knowing that he would wax poetic about vampires for hours if she let him. She took his hands and started rubbing them.

“And how was I to know they found out I was an ex-vampire myself? Planning to sell me to some rich asshole so they could poke and prod at me to find the secret to eternal life.” Nikola scoffed. “I had the situation entirely under control, of course – ”

“Of course. You just wanted to see me, no doubt.

“You read my mind.” He grinned at her.

“Well, here I am,” said Helen. “And now we’re getting out of here.”

She rested a hand on Nikola’s cheek, stroking the bruises forming there. “Now come along.” Taking his arm, she helped him to his feet.

“Since I’m injured, do I get full access to your wine cellar?” Nikola asked hopefully.

“No.”


End file.
